Optimism is sits at the heart of a problem solving and progress oriented approach to our world.

David Deutsch put Optimism forth as the following principle:
"All evils are caused by an insufficient amount of knowledge"

This follows directly from the concept that if a solution to a problem does not go against the laws of nature than it is just a matter of finding the right knowledge.   But this principle also has deeper implications.   It can only be true if there are no fundamental limitations to knowledge and that there is such a things as objective progress and truth in fields outside of science as well, such as morality and philosophy.  Many bad philosophies that are still popular today deny these concepts and have led to anti-progress attitudes.

Traditional definitions of optimism and pessimism reflect these attitudes and Deutsch had given them their own labels:

• Blind optimism - a reckless overconfident attitude that allows one to proceed as if one knew bad outcomes won't happen.

• Blind pessimism - essentially the precautionary principle which implores us to avoid anything that is not known to be safe.

Blind pessimism is particularly dangerous because it contains the alluring meme that we can protect ourselves from future calamities by reigning in our progress.  This attitude always leads to stagnation and demise, because it denies the reality that all solutions only lead to more problems, and by limiting progress we are limiting the growth of knowledge needed to solve the unending procession of problems.

Making progress and solving problems not only requires an optimistic stance towards the world but also the physical ability to implement the solutions.  Physical transformations require not only knowledge but energy and resources.   It is in this context that Deutsch defines wealth as "the repertoire of physical transformations that one is capable of causing".  

To make progress we must be careful not to squander our wealth but instead encourage systems of governance and innovation that are able to constantly error correct and efficiently allocate resources and energy.